Image processing apparatus and method of same

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus, able to improve the pixel fill rate and able to prevent an increase of memory resources and increase of memory access, provided with a color calculation circuit for performing pixel level processing based on supplied first attribute parameters of the Z and color (R, G, B) data and outputting second attribute parameters and (x, y) coordinate data supplied by a DDA circuit together with the results and a sub primitive generation circuit for expanding a plurality of stamps to a plurality of sub primitives (sub stamps) based on the second attribute parameters of the color calculation circuit, generating expanded coordinates corresponding to the expanded sub stamps based on the (x, y) coordinate data of the DDA circuit, and outputting the same as the drawing parameters after expansion and the expanded graphics drawing coordinates to a memory controller, and a method of the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus forcalculating the colors of pixels and writing values thereof into amemory and a method of the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the past, in the field of three-dimensional computer graphics, thegeneral practice has been to express and draw an object by surfaces.

Contrary to this, in recent years, the technique of “point rendering”which regards an object as a collection of points and draws pointsz-sorted in advance as semi-transparent circles having certain sizes ona screen has been proposed.

When points are located sufficiently close to each other, it is possibleto use this point rendering to generate graphics without gaps.

This technique can be used also for generation of general opaque surfaceobjects as well, but it particularly suitable for expressing softobjects having semi-transparent elements such as a gas or fur.

When trying to express this by conventional hardware, a high pixel fillrate including semi-transparent processing becomes necessary.

In general, however, an image processing system equipped with anexternal frame memory is restricted in the number of pixels which it canread from or write into the frame memory due to the constraint of thememory band width. Therefore, it is difficult to raise the pixel fillrate.

Even when using an internal frame memory, it is difficult to increasethe number of digital differential analyzer (DDA) or setup/drawingcircuits due to the constraint of the chip area. Therefore, the numberof generated pixels is restricted due to the constraint of the amount ofpixel processing and it is difficult to raise the pixel fill rate.

Furthermore, when expressing an object having semi-transparent elementssuch as fur by conventional hardware, it may be considered to write theradii of the circles along with color information into the memory anduse these for filtering.

When using the technique of holding color information and the radii ofcircles in the memory and using these for filtering, however, it becomesdifficult to express circles not fitting the grid.

By managing the memory by units smaller than pixels, circles not fittingthe grid can be expressed, but the size of the required-memory would endup increasing along with this.

Also, generally, filtering is suitable when processing the entirescreen. For this reason, there are cases where pixels inherently notrequiring filtering will be processed, so wasteful memory access willoccur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is to provide an imageprocessing apparatus able to improve the pixel fill rate withoutincreasing the number of the DDA or setup/color calculation circuits andable to realize the large pixel fill rate required for drawing a gas,fur, or the like and a method of the same.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an imageprocessing apparatus able to-prevent an increase of the required memoryresources and able to prevent an increase of memory access whenrealizing point rendering using filtering and a method of the same.

To attain the above objects, according to a first aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising amemory module in which image data is drawn; a processing circuit forgenerating pixel data based on primitive parameters and outputting thepixel data and address data and first attribute parameters of thepixels; a color calculation circuit for calculating color based on thefirst attribute parameters of the processing circuit and outputtingsecond attribute parameters of the pixels after the color calculation; apixel increasing circuit for generating a plurality of the pixels basedon the second attribute parameters of the color calculation circuit andgenerating addresses of the plurality of pixels based on the addressdata of the processing circuit; and a memory controller for drawing aplurality of pixels generated by the pixel increasing circuit in thememory module.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedimage processing apparatus comprising a memory module in which imagedata is drawn; a processing circuit for generating pixel stamps based onprimitive parameters and outputting the stamp data and address data andfirst attribute parameters of the stamps; a color calculation circuitfor calculating color based on the first attribute parameters of theprocessing circuit and outputting second attribute parameters of thepixels after the dolor calculation; a sub primitive generation circuitfor expanding the plurality of stamps to a plurality of sub primitivesbased on the second attribute parameters of the color calculationcircuit and the address data of the processing circuit; and a memorycontroller for drawing the sub primitives generated by the sub primitivegeneration circuit in the memory module.

In the first and second aspects, preferably the pixel increasing circuitor the sub primitive generation circuit includes a generation parametergeneration unit for generating parameters of nearby pixels based on thesecond attribute parameters.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the address datagenerated by the processing circuit is two-dimensional coordinate dataof the pixels, and the pixel increasing circuit or the sub primitivegeneration circuit includes an expanded coordinate generation unit forgenerating the two-dimensional coordinate data of the nearby Pixelsbased on the two-dimensional coordinate data of the processing circuit.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the address datagenerated by the processing circuit is two-dimensional coordinate dataof the pixels, and the pixel increasing circuit or the sub primitivegeneration circuit includes a drawing parameter generation unit forgenerating parameters of nearby pixels based on the second attributeparameters and an expanded coordinate generation unit for generating thetwo-dimensional coordinate data of nearby pixels based on thetwo-dimensional coordinate data of the processing circuit.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the pixel increasingcircuit or the sub primitive generation circuit generates pixels ofspecific shapes.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the pixel increasingcircuit or the sub primitive generation circuit determines a region ofincrease of pixels based on the second attribute parameters.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the second attributeparameters are vectors on a window screen.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the second attributeparameters have the size of a region on the window screen.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the second attributeparameters are sums of degrees of opaqueness in the region.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the pixel increasingcircuit or the sub primitive generation circuit changes the degree ofopaqueness according to the area of the region in which pixels areincreased.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the pixel increasingcircuit or the sub primitive generation circuit assigns the same colorto the region in which the pixels are increased.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the primitive being drawnis a gaseous object.

In the first and second aspects, alternatively the primitive being drawnis a furry object.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedan image processing method comprised of a first step of generating pixeldata based on primitive parameters and outputting the pixel data andaddress data and first attribute parameters of the pixels; a second stepof calculating color based on the first attribute parameters andgenerating second attribute parameters of the pixels after the colorcalculation; a third step of generating a plurality of pixels based onthe second attribute parameters and generating addresses of theplurality of pixels based on the address data; and a fourth step ofdrawing the generated plurality of pixels in the memory module.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan image processing method comprised of a first step of generating pixelstamps based on primitive parameters and outputting the stamp data andaddress data and first attribute parameters of the stamps; a second stepof calculating color based on the first attribute parameters andgenerating second attribute parameters of the pixels after the colorcalculation; a third step of expanding a plurality of the stamps to aplurality of sub primitives based on the second attribute parameters andthe address data; and a fourth step of drawing the generated subprimitives in the memory module.

In short, according to the present invention, for example the processingcircuit generates the pixel data based on the primitive parameters andoutputs the pixel data and the address data and the firstattribute-parameters of the pixels to the color calculation circuit.

The color calculation circuit calculates color based on the firstattribute parameters of the processing circuit and outputs the secondattribute parameters of pixels after the color calculation to the pixelincreasing circuit.

The pixel increasing circuit generates a plurality of pixels based onthe second attribute parameters of the color calculation circuit. Also,the pixel increasing circuit generates addresses of the plurality ofpixels based on the address data of the processing circuit.

Then, the memory controller draws the plurality of pixels generated bythe pixel increasing circuit in the memory module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome clearer from the following description of the preferredembodiments given with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of an image processingapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a processing flow linked with the architecture ofFIG. 1 in an image processing apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the fundamental configuration of a subprimitive generation circuit according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of the configuration of the subprimitive generation circuit when the object drawn is a gaseous object;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining an operation of the circuit ofFIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are views of an example of processing when the objectdrawn is a gaseous object; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the configuration of an image processingapparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of an image processingapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.2 is a view of the flow of processing flow linked with the architectureof FIG. 1 in the image processing apparatus according to the presentembodiment.

The image processing apparatus 10 has as shown in FIG. 1, a host circuit11 serving as a processing circuit, a DDA circuit 12 as a processingcircuit, a color calculation circuit 13, a sub primitive generationcircuit 14 corresponding to a pixel increasing circuit, a memorycontroller 15, and a memory module (MEM) 16 comprised by for example adynamic random access memory (DRAM).

The host circuit 11 controls transfer of data with a central processingunit (CPU) or an external memory, performs operations on the vertexdata, sets up a primitive, and outputs primitive parameters to the DDAcircuit 12.

Specifically, the host circuit 11 performs a Per-Vertex operation whendata is input.

In this processing, when receiving as input vertex data such asthree-dimensional coordinates and normal vectors, the circuit performsvarious operations on the vertex data. As typical operations, there areprocessing for coordinate conversion for deforming an object, projectingit onto a screen, and so on, processing for lighting, processing forclipping, etc.

The DDA circuit 12 calculates DDA parameters based on the informationfrom the host circuit 11.

In this processing, the DDA circuit 12 calculates DDA parameters such asinclinations of various data (Z, R, G, B, etc.) required forrasterization.

Also, the DDA circuit 12 performs the rasterization based on theparameter data.

Specifically, it rasterizes various data (Z, color (R, G, B), etc.)

The DDA circuit 12 outputs two-dimensional coordinates (x, y) data asaddress data of the pixels and (Z, color (R, G, B), etc.) at these (x,y) coordinates as the first attribute parameters to the colorcalculation circuit 13.

In this case, the DDA circuit 12 generates and outputs 8 (2×4) pixelsworth of the pixel stamp data to be processed to the color calculationcircuit 13.

The color calculation circuit 13 performs pixel level processing(per-pixel operations) based on the first attribute parameters of the Zand color (R, G, B) data supplied by the DDA circuit 12 and outputssecond attribute parameters and the (x, y) coordinate data supplied bythe DDA circuit 12 to the sub primitive generation circuit 14 along withthe results.

In this pixel level processing, the various types of data afterrasterization are processed in pixel units. The processing performedhere corresponds to a so-called “Pixel Shader” such as lighting at thepixel level (per-pixel lighting).

The second attribute parameters given to the sub primitive generationcircuit 14 by the color calculation circuit 13 include the color, degreeof transparency, size, density, etc. of the pixels.

The sub primitive generation circuit 14 expands a plurality of stamps toa plurality of sub primitives (sub stamps) based on the second attributeparameters of the color calculation circuit 13, generates expandedcoordinates corresponding to the expanded sub stamps based on the (x, y)coordinate data of the DDA circuit 12, and outputs the same as thedrawing parameters after expansion and expanded drawing coordinates tothe memory controller 15.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the fundamental configuration of the subprimitive generation circuit 14.

This sub primitive generation circuit 14 has, as shown in FIG. 3, adrawing parameter generation unit 141 for generating drawing parametersof nearby pixels of an original pixel based on the second attributeparameters and an expanded coordinate generation unit 142 for generatingthe two-dimensional coordinate data of nearby pixels, that is, theexpanded coordinates, based on the (x, y) coordinate data of the DDAcircuit 12.

The drawing parameter generation unit 141 expands for example the colorof each pixel of the stamp as it is.

The expanded coordinate generation unit 142 generates a plurality of (x,y) coordinates of sub stamps from the (x, y) coordinates of the stamps.

Note that, here, the sub primitives to be generated have fixed shapesand sizes. For this reason, it is not necessary to separately havefunctions such as setup/DDA, so the circuit can be relatively cheaplyrealized. In the circuit explained above, however, the region in whichthe pixels are expanded cannot be arbitrarily changed.

Below, a description will be given of processing of a more generalexpanded coordinate generation unit and drawing parameter generationunit.

Below, the sequence of processing of the expanded coordinate generationunit will be described.

When sizes (w, h) of a rectangular region are given from a hostcontroller (DDA circuit in the present embodiment), a pixel included inthe range of the corresponding rectangular region is selected, and x, ycoordinates in this window are listed. k = 0 for(j=−h/2; j≦ h/2; j⁺⁺){for(i = −w/2; i ≦ w/2; i⁺⁺){ x[k] = (int)x + i y[k] = (int)y + j k++ } }(1)

According to equation (1), the corresponding pixel can be increased to aplurality of pixels. Further, there also exists a case where one regionis defined by a certain table. A case where this table istbl[index][w][h] and an index to the table is given from the hostcontroller will be considered. Here, w and h are the sizes of thewidth/height of a kernal. It is assumed that 1 is stored in tbl when itis valid, and 0 is stored in tbl when it is invalid. k = 0 for(j = 0−; j< h; j⁺⁺){ for(i = 0; i < w; i⁺⁺){ if(tbl[index][i][j]){ x[k] = (int)x +i − w/2 y[k] = (int)y + j − h/2 k++ } } } (2)

By utilizing a general table in this way, it becomes possible to expanda pixel to a region of various shapes.

Next, the processing of the drawing parameter generation unit will beexplained.

As parameters, for example the color and the degree of transparency ofthe pixels are given in many cases. Here, as the color of a pixel, asshown in the next equation, the same dolor given from the hostcontroller will be utilized as it is.c[k]=c  (3)

In general, the transparency degree a is changed in accordance with thearea of the region. For example, when a pixel is increased to therectangular region of w×h as in the above equation (1), it is changed asfollows;a[k]=a/(w*h)  (4)

On the other hand, when using the general table as in equation (2)mentioned above, the area of the region is known in advance for everyindex. Therefore, when defining a reciprocal of this as one-over-area [], it can be calculated as follows.a[k]=a*one-over-area[index]  (5)

Next, an example of the configuration of the sub primitive generationcircuit and the operation thereof when the object drawn is a gaseousobject will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of the configuration of the subprimitive generation circuit when the object drawn is a gaseous object,while FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the circuitof FIG. 4.

A sub primitive generation circuit 14A of FIG. 4 has a counter 143 inaddition to the drawing parameter generation unit 141 and the expandedcoordinate generation unit 142.

In this case, the density data is given to the drawing parametergeneration unit 141 as a second attribute parameter (expansion useparameter), while the original coordinates (x, y) and the parameter ofthe size are given to the expanded coordinate generation unit 142.

The drawing parameter generation unit 141 calculates a relative densitybased on the relative location in the sub primitive and multiplies it bythe whole density to find the degree of opaqueness.

The sub primitive generation circuit 14A receives the originalcoordinate value and the expansion use parameter (ST1) and resets thecounter 143 (ST2).

Then, the expanded coordinate generation unit 142 calculates the drawingcoordinates based on the original coordinate value and the count of thecounter 143 (ST3) and outputs the drawing coordinates as signals S142 aand S142 b to the drawing parameter generation unit 141 and the memorycontroller 15.

Next, the drawing parameter generation unit 141 uses the generationcoordinates, the count of the counter 143, and the expansion useparameter to calculate the drawing parameters (ST4) and outputs them asthe signal S141 to the memory controller 15.

The above operation is carried out while incrementing the counter 143 by+1 at a time until finishing with all sub primitives (ST5, ST6).

The memory controller 15 performs alpha tests, scissoring, Z-buffertests, stencil tests, alpha blending, and other processing on theexpanded sub stamp data supplied from the sub primitive generationcircuit 14 and draws the expanded sub pixel data passing the varioustests in the memory module 16 based on the expanded coordinates.

The memory controller 15 performs a so-called modified write operationconsisting of reading data from a predetermined address and performingwriting when required when generating graphics in the memory module 16.

Next, the operation by the above configuration will be explained.

First, in the host circuit 11, operations on the vertex data areperformed, one primitive is set up, and the primitive parameters areoutput to the DDA circuit 12.

In the DDA circuit 12, the DDA parameters, concretely DDA parameterssuch as inclinations of various types of data (Z, R, G, B, etc.)required for the rasterization are calculated, based on the informationof the host circuit 11 and rasterization is performed based on theparameter data.

Then, in the DDA circuit 12, the two-dimensional coordinate (x, y) dataas the address data of each pixel and the Z, color (R, G, B), etc. atthese (x, y) coordinates is output as the first attribute parameters tothe color calculation circuit 13.

In this case, the DDA circuit 12 generates 8 (2×4) pixels worth of thecorresponding pixel stamp data to be processed and outputs it to thecolor calculation circuit 13.

In the color calculation circuit 13, the pixel level processing isperformed based on the first attribute parameters of the Z and color (R,G, B) data supplied from the DDA circuit 12 and the second attributeparameters and the (x, y) coordinate data supplied by the DDA circuit 12are output to the sub primitive generation circuit 14 together with theresults.

In the sub primitive generation circuit 14, a plurality of stamps areexpanded to a plurality of sub primitives (sub stamps) based on thesecond attribute parameters of the color calculation circuit 13, thedrawing parameters are generated, and these are output to the memorycontroller 15.

Also, in the sub primitive generation circuit 14, expanded coordinatescorresponding to the expanded sub stamps based on the (x, y) coordinatedata of the DDA circuit 12 are generated and these are output to thememory controller 15.

Then, in the memory controller 15, alpha tests, scissoring, Z-buffertests, stencil tests, alpha blending, and other processingare performedon the expanded sub stamp data supplied from the sub primitivegeneration circuit 14 and the expanded sub pixel data passing thevarious tests in the memory module 16 are drawn based on the expandedcoordinates.

As explained above, according to the present embodiment, since provisionis made of the color calculation circuit 13 for performing the pixellevel processing (per-pixel operations) based on the first attributeparameters of the Z and color (R, G, B) data supplied by the DDA circuit12 and outputting the second attribute parameters and (x, y) coordinatedata supplied from the DDA circuit 12 together with the results and thesub primitive generation circuit 14 for expanding a plurality of stampsto a plurality of sub primitives (sub stamps) based on the secondattribute parameters of the color calculation circuit 13, generatingexpanded coordinates corresponding to the expanded sub stamps based onthe (x, y) coordinate data of the DDA circuit 12, and outputting thesame as the drawing parameters after expansion and the expanded drawingcoordinates to the memory controller 15, there are the advantages thatthe pixel fill rate can be improved without increasing the number of theDDA or setup/color calculation circuits and that a large pixel fill raterequired for drawing a gas, fur, etc. can be realized.

When performing point rendering, the increase of the memory resourcesand the increase of the memory access required when realizing the pointrendering by using filtering can be prevented.

The present embodiment is effective also in place of general filteringin addition to point rendering. As mentioned above, filtering requiresthat even originally unnecessary pixels be read out, so wasteful memoryaccess occurs. By employing the present embodiment in place of thefiltering, more efficient memory access is realized and higher speedgraphics drawing becomes possible.

When the object drawn is fur, the kernal to be filtered was changed fromthe vector value in the window coordinate system. By replacing thiskernal by the table as mentioned above and expressing the index by avalue indicating the direction of the vector of the window coordinatesystem, it becomes possible to realize the filtering.

At this time, the pixels must be z-sorted in advance, but when forexample drawing a shell, the drawing sequence is sorted in the depthdirection in most cases, so no problem will occur.

According to the present embodiment, the large pixel fill rate requiredfor drawing a gaseous object etc. can be realized.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are views of an example of the processing where theobject drawn is a gaseous object.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 6A, the DDA circuit 12 generates a grid.As shown in FIG. 6B, the sub primitive generation circuit 14 generatesspherical α-values for the vertexes thereof. Next, as shown in FIG. 6C,the memory controller 15 performs pixel operations on them and writesthe results in the memory.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the configuration of an image processingapparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference of the second embodiment from the first embodiment isthat the DDA circuit is deleted.

When performing the processing as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, DDAprocessing is required, but DDA processing is not always requireddepending on the processing. FIG. 7 has the configuration correspondingto this.

The rest of the configuration is similar to the first embodimentexplained above. There are the advantages that not only are effectssimilar to those by the first embodiment obtained, but also theapparatus can be simplified.

Note that, in the above embodiments, the explanation was made of thecase where the second attribute parameters generated by the colorcalculation circuit were supplied to the sub primitive circuit, but itis also possible to configure the apparatus so as to directly supply thesecond attribute parameters of the DDA circuit or make then secondattribute parameters pass through the color calculation circuit as theyare and then give them to the sub primitive circuit.

Summarizing the effects of the invention, as explained above, accordingto the present invention, there are the advantages that the pixel fillrate can be improved without increasing the number of the DDA orsetup/color calculation circuits and that the large pixel fill raterequired for drawing a gas, fur, etc. can be realized.

When performing point rendering, the increase of the memory resourcesand the increase of the memory access required when realizing it byusing the filtering can be prevented.

The present invention is effective also in place of general filtering inaddition to point rendering. As mentioned above, filtering requires thateven originally unnecessary pixels be read out, so wasteful memoryaccess occurs. By employing the present invention in place of thefiltering, more efficient memory access is realized and higher speedgraphics generation becomes possible.

When the object drawn is fur, the kernal to be filtered was changed fromthe vector value in the window coordinate system. By replacing thiskernal by the table as mentioned above and expressing the index by avalue indicating the direction of the vector of the windowcoordinate-system, it becomes possible to realize the filtering.

At this time, the pixels must be z-sorted in advance, but when forexample drawing a shell, the drawing sequence is sorted in the depthdirection in most cases, so no problem will occur.

According to the present invention, the large pixel fill rate requiredfor drawing a gaseous object etc. can be realized.

While the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments chosen for purpose of illustration, it should be apparentthat numerous modifications could be made thereto by those skilled inthe art without departing from the basic concept and scope of theinvention.

1-40. (canceled)
 41. An image processing apparatus comprising: a memorymodule in which image data is drawn; a processing circuit for generatingpixel data based on primitive parameters and outputting the pixel dataand address data and first attribute parameters of the pixels; a colorcalculation circuit for calculating color based on the first attributeparameters of the processing circuit and outputting second attributeparameters of the pixels after the color calculation; a pixel increasingcircuit for generating a plurality of the pixels based on the secondattribute parameters of the color calculation circuit and generatingaddresses of the plurality of pixels based on the address data of theprocessing circuit, the pixel increasing circuit including a drawingparameter generation unit for generating parameters of nearby pixelsbased on the second attribute parameters; and a memory controller fordrawing a plurality of pixels generated by the pixel increasing circuitin the memory module, wherein the primitive being drawn is a furryobject.
 42. An image processing method comprising: a first step ofgenerating pixel based on primitive parameters and outputting the pixeldata and address data and first attribute parameters of the pixels; asecond step of calculating color based on the first attribute parametersand generating second attribute parameters of the pixels after the colorcalculation; a third step of generating a plurality of pixels based onthe second attribute parameters, generating addresses of the pluralityof pixels based on the address data, and generating parameters of nearbypixels based on the second attribute parameters; and a fourth step ofdrawing the generated plurality of pixels in the in the memory module,wherein the pixels being drawn comprise a furry object.